Horse trek at Aksu Zhagbaly National Park

Horse trek

Today I start a two-day excursion to the foothills of mountains about 90 mins out of Shymkent.  They day’s program is a horse trek along the Aksu Canyon in the Aksu Zhagbaly National Park.

I was picked by Katya for the drive at 0815, a little later than planned.  Surprisingly, she’s Muslim despite the name, then she explained that it is a nickname.

Upon arrival at Tonkeris, I dropped my stuff in ornate guestroom at the Guesthouse of Daulbai Adilbayev. I was introduced to the family in the kitchen welcome with tea and freshly baked pastries.

At 1000, I was on a horse in their yard and followed the guide into the pastures leading to the Aksu-Zhagbaly Nature Reserve.  The guide wasn’t very engaging and talked on the phone a fair bit.  I know there is a language barrier but some people do try a little harder.

My horse started to play up and refused to move a few times.  The guide offered for us to swap and the second horse was more obliging.

We passed an area with plants resembling wheat but with blue flowers.  It was a lovely spot but trying to work my phone with only one hand while steering the horse, I accidentally took a very bad video instead.

After about an hour, we pulled up to a couple of small huts and parked the horses nearby overlooking the Aksu Canyon.  A man invited me for tea in the hut and I was told that he’s the park ranger (no uniform).  We sat and they chatted for about an hour before we set off again.

During the third hour, we rode along the canyon.  I was starting to hurt in my perineum.  To make matters worse, something (perhaps the back of the saddle) was rubbing my tailbone area.  [Edit:  It turned out the top of my butt crack area had been rubbed raw and my scar badly with my dark skin.]

By the time the fourth hour come, I was completely over the ride.  This coincided with a downhill ride through uneven ground.  The terrain here is definitely more challenging than my horse trek in Kyrgyzstan.  And having been to Switzerland since then, the reward of the sight I was getting wasn’t paying off.  We saw the Sayram Su range and peak in the distance and the canyon.

I couldn’t wait for the ride to finish.  My horse seems to travel at the same speed as my guide’s.  But mine seems to trot in a more jerky up-down fashion whereas his is a nice gentle walk.

My perineum and tailbone were so happy when I saw the village.  We passed one house after another without turning in.  This was like a cruel test.

It was an Alhamdulillah moment when we finally turned into the yard of our guesthouse at 1400.

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Relax for the rest of the day

There were lots of shoes laid out by the front door.  It looked like my hosts were having a lunch party in their ornate dining room.

I was invited to join them.  On my late was flat noodles (like wonton skin) with very tender boiled meat (lamb perhaps), carrots and potato.

In the centre, there were lots of sweets and fruit.  I can confirm that the local cherries are as good as the best of the New Zealand ones.  Just a little smaller.

Men were seated at one end of the table and women at the other.  I was in between.  When I had nearly finished eating (I started late), one of the men led a prayer in which everyone joined in silently.  Then all the men left, leaving the women to continue chatting and drinking tea.

During the afternoon, I rested.  I realised that the inside of my upper butt crack had rubbed raw on one side.  I don’t know how it happened!

I lay in bed for most of the day until dinner was served.  This time it was a solitary affair with a clear soup (containing the same meat, potato and carrot for lunch), a coleslaw, some pastries and sweets.

In the evening, all the adults went out, leaving the two primary school age kids alone in the house and to play with the farm machinery in the yard!